It’s a money-back guarantee like no other: If the world stops spinning December 21, 2012, this hotel will refund double your vacation expenses — surely a welcome relief in the midst of Armageddon.

A group of luxury hotels in the Mexican Riviera Maya is offering this double-money-back guarantee in addition to a free night of accommodations on Doomsday and free roundtrip transportation — well, it could be one-way if the world does indeed end.

Here’s how it works: Book at least three nights during the winter solstice this year at one of the four Condo Hotels Playa del Carmen and you won’t pay for December 21. They’ll also provide free transportation to Chichen Itza, about three hours away. Room rates start at $175 per night.

Chichen Itza, Mayan for “at the mouth of the well,” is a sacred Mayan site in the Mexican state of Yucatan where the Temple of Kukulcan, a k a El Castillo, sits. The stepped pyramid is said to be the physical embodiment of the Mayan Calendar with 91 steps on each of four sides. Surely, if Doomsday arrives, this spot will be ground zero.

The Maya were skilled astronomers, but NASA states on its Web site that there is no science to support any end-of-the-world predictions. According to NASA, this story began with claims that a planet/meteor is on a collision path with Earth. The proposed impact was set for May 2003, but when June 2003 arrived, the fable was linked to the end of the Mayan calendar and, ta-da, new day for Rapture.

However, just as the calendar we hang on our fridge ends each December 31, the Mayan long-count calendar (a 5,125-year cycle) ends and starts anew. The Maya simply didn’t last long enough to print a new calendar. Just as we see January 1 each year as an opportunity to start anew, an apocalypse alternative is to see the end of the long-count calendar as a time of major renewal and rebirth.

Whether Judgment Day finds you in front of a heavenly authority or acting as your own arbitrator, you might as well celebrate. So, make your Doomsday plans, but book your 2013 adventure, too. Life’s short; it’s a gamble and there are few guarantees.